Cellphones on planes banned for crowd control issues?
By Donald Melanson 
posted Apr 9th 2007 11:10AM
posted Apr 9th 2007 11:10AM
While interference has long been the official explanation for why cellphones have been off-limits on airplanes, that hasn't stopped folks from speculating about other possible motivations behind the ban, with the latest bit of rumination on the subject coming to us from Mike Elgan of Computerworld. According to Elgan, one of the "real reasons" cellphones aren't allowed on flights is because of the airlines' fear of crowd control problems should phones be permitted, including the possibility that disputes could erupt among passengers as a result of rude behavior (a pretty safe bet). He also suggests that the airlines prefer to have passengers "ignorant" about problems on the ground during flights, although that issue doesn't seem to have stopped airlines from providing their own phones. Among other reasons, Elgan claims that the government wants to keep the ban in order to avoid the expense of having to test and certify every gadget for use on planes. Of course, there's also the possibility that cellphones on planes are just a really bad idea, but unfortunately we're not the ones that make these decisions.[Via Slashdot]
Mobile phones are banned on planes because they interfere with cell towers on the ground, not avionics in the air. When your phone is on standby at 20,000 feet at 500mph, the cell towers often scramble themselves in an effort to hand off from one to the next at that speed & distance. The Economist has reported this info several times - and also the fact that, on average, about a dozen phones are, accidentally or otherwise, left on during the average North American flight. Yet somehow they manage to keep the plane in the air.
A quote from the most recent Economist (half-joking) article on the topic, titled "Fear of Flying" (Sept. 2006:
"Please switch off all mobile phones, since they can interfere with the aircraft's navigation systems. At least, that's what you've always been told. The real reason to switch them off is because they interfere with mobile networks on the ground, but somehow that doesn't sound quite so good. On most flights a few mobile phones are left on by mistake, so if they were really dangerous we would not allow them on board at all, if you think about it."
Random question I have to ask, where is that picture from that always accompanies these cell phone on plane articles? Who is it of?
Guys how about changing to a more attractive picture?!
Another reason why they ask you to turn off cell phones once the aircraft door has closed (during boarding) is because they want you to listen to the flight attendants and the safety talk. Anybody who's been delayed on the plane (i.e. an hour taxiing around without taking off) knows that they "allow" people to use their phones to call the airline phone centers to reschedule. It has nothing to do with the airplane's communication devices.